The rapporteur of the 2022 Budget bill, Deputy Hugo Leal (PSD-RJ), set the minimum wage for the next year at R$ 1,210. The value is shown in the opinion presented. today (20) in the Joint Budget Committee (CMO) of Congress.
This amount represents an increase of 10.04% in relation to the current minimum wage of R$1.1 thousand. The variation corresponds to the official projection of the Economic Policy Secretariat (SPE) of the Ministry of Economy for the National Consumer Price Index (INPC) for this year. Which would indicate another year without real gains (adjustment above inflation).
However, the opinion itself mentions that the projection is outdated and cites an updated forecast of 10.18% for the INPC. If this value prevails, the minimum wage would rise to R$1,212 next year. The government’s original proposal, sent in August, provided for a minimum wage of R$ 1,169, but did not include higher inflation than expected in the second half of this year, mainly caused by the readjustment of energy and fuel.
Hugo Leal’s report needs to be approved by the CMO and then by the plenary of Congress, in a joint session of the Chamber and the Senate. THE vote in today at CMO was postponed.
Even without a real increase (above inflation), the exact value of the minimum wage will only be known at the end of January, after the disclosure of the INPC [Índice Nacional de Preços ao Consumidor] consolidated from 2021 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
no readjustment
Hugo Leal rejected the Ministry of Economy’s request to include, in its opinion, a salary adjustment for civil servants. Last week, the folder sent a letter with a request to set aside BRL 2.8 billion of the Budget next year to readjust the salary of some categories.
Of this total, R$ 2.5 billion would come from the primary budget (formed by the collection of taxes) to pay the readjustments. The remaining R$ 355 million would come from the issuance of public bonds to finance the increase in the Union’s contribution to the public servants’ social security.
The document does not say which categories will be served. However, on the 14th, President Jair Bolsonaro had promised salary increases for federal police, federal highway police and correctional officers.
This afternoon, Hugo Leal and the president of the CMO, senator Rose de Freitas (MDB-ES), meet with the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, to try to reach an agreement and unlock the vote.
PEC of Precatório
The opinion of the rapporteur Hugo Leal foresees R$ 113.1 billion, the forecast of fiscal space (space for expenses) opened by the promulgation of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) of the Precatório. Originally, the Ministry of Economy provided space of BRL 106.1 billion.
Of the total BRL 113.1 billion, the Executive Branch will have BRL 110 billion. The remaining BRL 3.1 billion will be opened to the Legislative and Judiciary Powers, the Federal Public Ministry and the Union’s Public Defender.
Most of the fiscal space, R$89 billion, will be used to fund the R$400 Brazilian Aid for around 17.9 million families. The remainder will be used to finance the readjustment of Social Security benefits, which also follow the INPC and whose expenditure estimates rose with the increase in inflation. The fiscal space will also make it possible to readjust unemployment insurance and social assistance benefits, such as the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC).